Positive pressure ventilators are devices which are used to force gases, usually air or oxygen-enriched air, into the lungs of patients who, for one reason or another, are incapable of sustaining adequate ventilation entirely through their own efforts. The source of pressure may be a piston device, a built in blower or a high pressure line Commercially-available ventilators utilize various mechanisms to regulate the pressure applied to the patient's airway. In all cases, a breath is triggered which sets in motion a sequence of events during which pressure is applied until a volume or pressure target is reached, at which time the pressure cycle ends. Once the cycle is triggered, the ventilator proceeds in a predetermined manner, set by adjustments of dials on the control panel of the unit. With such devices, the patient has no control over the maximum pressure or the tidal volume received during the cycle. The only control the patient has is in the triggering step since some commercial ventilators have a mode in which the patient can trigger the cycle (assist/control).
I am aware of prior art proposals to effect modifications to commercially-available pressure-powered ventilators to allow the pressure produced to vary with electrical activity recorded from a respiratory nerve (see Remmers et al, "Servo Respirator Constructed from a Positive-Pressure Ventilator", J. Appl. Physiol. 41: 252 to 255, 1976) or with flow (see Poon et al, "A Device to Provide Respiratory Mechanical Unloading", IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng. 33: 361 to 365, 1986). Such modifications can be implemented only in pressure-powered devices.
Some known prior art patents describe a variety of breathing devices. U.S. Pat. No. 3,985,124 describes a spirometer for measurement of the rate and volume of expiratory breathing to create a graphic record of the same. This device possesses an expansible chamber of the piston type which expands in proportion to the exhaled air.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,669,097 describes a device for increasing the capacity and strength of lungs. An expansible bellows chamber is connected to a conduit having a mouthpiece. A selectively-adjustable valve is present in the conduit for constricting the passage from the mouthpiece to the inlet to the bellows chamber, so that a force in excess of the normal pressure developed by the lungs is required to expand the bellows.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,301,810 describes a ventilatory muscle training apparatus comprising a reservoir and a mouthpiece and also having a simple valving system to vent stale air from the reservoir during exhalation and let fresh air into the reservoir during inhalation. The air flow through the mouthpiece is monitored to ensure the intended manner of use of the apparatus is maintained.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,462,410 describes a recording spirometer for performing a breath test which uses a movable pusher plate which is moved in response to the breathing of the patient and a recording medium which enables a record to be made of the volume of air expelled by a patient as a function of time.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,487,207 describes a lung exercise device which has a mouthpiece through which a patient inhales. A conduit connects the conduit to an air inlet and a valve is located in the conduit, normally biased to a closed position. Upon inhaling, the valve is opened and the amount of air inhaled is monitored.